First Contact: Colonial War
by Apollonir
Summary: A documentary that follows the most important battles, decisions and politics of what was dubbed the Great War by humanity, or the Colonial War by the Citadel, starting from Relay 314 to Armistice. The story of the bloodiest war in recorded human story, with a death toll in the billions. This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object.
1. Ep 1 - Prelude to War: Twelve Colonies

**Episode 1: Prelude to War – Twelve Colonies of Kobol**

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Hello, everyone! My name is Apollonir, and welcome to our new series _"First Contact: Colonial War"_! Our series will explore the context of what was dubbed the Great War, the political decisions that lead to it and saw it through, and the important engagements between the alien Citadel and the Twelve Colonies of Kobol, both in space and on the ground.

Before we delve into the actual war, in the bloody fighting that saw the death of billions of people on both sides, we must explore the context that lead to the war. How a certain string of events and decisions snowballed into the greatest slaughter in recorded human history. And we'll start with the Twelve Colonies.

I believe it is safe to say that had we not discovered element zero, we would have zero knowledge of alien life and we would have probably found ourselves in another war with the Cylons. But, as destiny would have it, a fateful discovery was made. That discovery happened on October 4th 2122, five years after the Cylon War.

After the war, the Twelve Colonies were extremely busy rebuilding the devastated colonies, and building its naval force. The demand for raw resources was so high that the home production could not satisfy the demand. With the Red Line now in place, the Colonies had to look for resources further away from the Cyrannus System than ever before. And it was the prospector ship _Kolodona_ that first found element zero deposits on the planet Panora Beta II, in the Panora Beta System.

The discovery perplexed human scientists at the beginning. It was unheard of to find a chemical element with atomic mass zero. As you already know, the main property of eezo is the ability to release dark energy when subjected to electrical current. The released dark energy can be manipulated into mass effect fields that can lower or raise the mass of objects within the fields. This is but school trivia for you, so we will not dwell on the topic.

Another major discovery that helped us make leaps in eezo based technologies and physics came in the form of an alien outpost two years later, in 2124, on Panora Beta II's equator. The outpost, for it was a very small base, perhaps established for the same reasons we were there for, looked like it had been abandoned a long time ago. The former occupiers left behind many pieces of technology, among which were two turrets with cannons and three computers.

Before we go over the technologic advancements this new find enabled, we must first consider the major impact proof of intelligent alien life had on Colonial society. You see, the very first words of the Sacred Scrolls say that, and I quote, "life here began out there". It's widely accepted that humanity originates from the legendary planet of Kobol. There are no fossil records of human evolution anywhere on the Twelve Colonies, so we must have come from another planet some 2,000 years ago. The prospect of alien life, intelligent nonetheless, turned upside down many religious ideas, especially the one saying that humans were the only intelligent race, as the Lords of Kobol graced the universe with.

This worked as the catalyst to further unite humanity under the Colonial rule. Humanity was still fractured when the Cylon War began. The history of interplanetary conflicts between the colonies is pretty long. The Twelve Colonies – a federated, presidential, multi-ethnocratic system – rose to prominence in the wake of the Cylon War. This was the closest humanity ever came to full union in history. But, once the war was over, old arguments started to rekindle. The rebuilding effort was heavily focused on the colonies most damaged by the conflict, so, naturally, the vast majority of resources flowed there. Secession was becoming a very possible outcome. But President Hartmut Hodde knew how to use the discovery to the Colonies' advantage. His announcement and charismatic speeches about how we had to face the future together, to stand strong against a possible alien and Cylon menace… they worked wonders in consolidating unity and raising the legitimacy of the Colonial Government and, by extension, the Twelve Colonies.

This frenzy of humanity against everything else pushed for many advancements, especially in the military. People were very afraid of a possible alien threat besides the Cylons. It gave us a big scare, the prospect of having to fight two enemies on two fronts. The robots wanted our destruction, why would aliens not? Let me tell you, this very mentality is what will escalate the war with the Citadel in 2157 and 2158.

The applications of eezo were numerous. More and more star systems that housed the mineral in various quantities were discovered as humanity explored further away from the Panora Beta star cluster. Most applications went into the transportation industry, as new ships that integrated mass effect technologies were built. The military too was happy to introduce mass effect based weaponry to the Colonial Fleet. By 2132, the Colonial Fleet's new warships were equipped with mass accelerator close in weapon systems to use against incoming munitions and aircraft. This significantly reduced the amount of space ammunition occupied on a ship.

The major issue was overheating of the weapons, but a very ingenious cooling system based on liquid nitrogen allowed a CIWS weapon to fire 45 minutes without stopping until the weapon would overheat. The fact that the new CIWS systems were a mix between mass effect and traditional ammunition played a factor. You see, conventional thinking would have you design tradition feeding system for mass effect weapons. The ammo is supplied in the form of a metallic block, and mass effect fields would chip away small pieces that were launched at the target. But, as the galaxy would find out, the Colonial Fleet is anything but conventional, as the designers were more ingenious with the method of reloading. Instead of feeding a solid metal block, the projectiles were still the old bullets but with no casing and explosive propeller. The slug was fed into the barrel and accelerated to relativistic speeds. The rate of fire was not as great as old CIWS, neither was the maximum speed achieved by the slug compared to Citadel weapon velocities, but overheating was no longer an issue of immediate concern. The mass accelerated CIWS emplacements were the only reasonable step forward.

From a demographic and geographic point of view, the Twelve Colonies began to expand outwards on new habitable planets discovered along the way. The discovery of a mass relay in the Panora Epsilon System opened the gates to the galaxy and many habitable planets. The discovery of a mass relay caused more unrest in the Cyrannus System. Many of the religious, especially Sagittarons and Gemenese, would be very upset when the government announced they'd make use of the relay once it was discovered how it worked and what it did. The superstitious ones even claimed that it was heresy to colonize planets on the other side of the relay. The Lords of Kobol, though angry at us during the Exodus from Kobol, did bless and guide us to the Cyrannus System. It is a statistical improbability to find twelve garden worlds concentrated in four stellar systems that are in the astronomical backyard as it happened here. One can be excused when he claims it as divine intervention.

Regardless, the Twelve Colonies went ahead with colonization efforts. Humanity would not pass the opportunity to expand. Besides the obvious benefits that come with using the relay network, the colonization effort was also energetically backed by the Colonial Fleet. You see, the new colonies were also a backup in case the Cyrannus System fell to a Cylon attack. The Admiralty knew that the very nature of these mass relays turned them into immense chokepoints they could easily defend against Cylon invasion, since it would be relatively impractical to travel via conventional FTL between two primary mass relays, be it mass effect FTL or traditional FTL.

The colonization of newly discovered planets was not as straightforward as you might believe. Each Colony would push for colonization rights and they'd be granted by the Colonial Government. Many of these new colonies would be settled by people from more than one Colony from back home. On Elysium you will find people predominantly from Tauron, Gemenon, Sagittaron and Canceron, although every Colony was given colonization rights to the planet. Then, there was the case of colonization rights over a planet being granted to a single Colony. Such was the case of Ismara, colonized only by Librans. It was a very delicate process, the management of colonization rights.

The newly founded colonies were not given separate seats in the Quorum of Twelve, the upper house of the Quorum, since they were still under the jurisdiction of their parent Colony in the Cyrannus System. They were given voting rights in every possible field, and they were represented in the newly established House of Planets, the lower house of the Quorum. This compartmentalization of the Quorum was meant to satisfy the colonists and prevent power abuse within the Quorum of Twelve, as they'd have too much in their hands. This way, they're being monitored and anything suspicious can be reported.

By the year 2157, the Twelve Colonies had just over 150 colonized garden worlds, or tier 1 planets, and 70 more tier 2 planets under its jurisdiction. The difference between the two is that tier 1 planets are planets habitable by humans without any terraforming, and tier 2 planets require some terraforming or special conditions must be met – like living in a domed structure, or wearing special suits when going outside the house. The term domed structure may not be the best one since you'd think of glass domes, but that was not the case. Many settlements had powerful mass effect field generators that trapped human friendly atmosphere inside, while other settlements truly had a material roof built over them.

The total population the Twelve Colonies would go at war with was 51 billion. Many of them would, unfortunately, not survive to see the end of it. They would all die a violent death in some ruined city, in a trench, in some alien forests, on foreign mountain ranges, or in the cold of space. Die killed by a bullet, by a bomb, by fire, by disease, by starvation, by dehydration, by orbital bombardments, or by nuclear fire! All fighting a stupid war!

But can you truly blame the Twelve Colonies for thinking how they did when it comes to aliens? For their attitude 'us versus them' that escalated the conflict into what we know today? Many of you will argue that it was us at fault for it all. But can you truly blame our forefathers? Can you truly blame them when you consider how we have been greeted by the galactic community? When man first met alien, they pointed their guns at us and fired.

I'm going to wrap it all here. Join us next time as we discuss the Citadel Council and its affiliated associate species, and their governments!

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 **Important author notes**

Greetings, people! Welcome to my new story! It was in the works for a while now. It replaced the old story, _War of the Worlds_ , that I started to write for Shingeki no Kyojin. The story was reposted and is being continued by _UN Peacekeeper_. I'm eager to see where he will take it.

As you have noticed, the story will be told from the perspective of someone presenting a historical show. The format is actually inspired by the YouTube show _The Great War_ , featuring _Indy Neidell_. I did not want to make one of those same old stories again, you know TIHoM is pretty much like many others, so I resorted to this. It will also remind you of _Battlefield: Wars of the Systems Alliance_ story that's being run by _GreaterGoodIreland_. Fantastic stories he has, you should definitely check them out (including the Dragon Age story _Outlander_ )!

Updates will be slow since my main focus will be on _The Iron Heart of Man_. I will have to update _The Lost Civilization_ too. But, as said in the latest TIHoM chapter, I will start end of semester exams shortly. This will kill my writing time even more. I hope you will understand and keep an eye out for updates.

For the timeline, I have adopted a different timeline than canon to Battlestar Galactica. I am making this change for the sake of easier story telling and a more easy to understand timeline. The years are counted since the Exodus from Kobol.

Oh, but you must be thinking: how will I tackle the issue of Kobol? How will I tackle the issue to Cylons? What about Colonial military strength? Or what about Earth? Our Earth. Wait and see, my friends. Or, to be frank, the Systems Alliance do not exist here. Neither will we be tackling the issue of the Reapers in this story. That's another matter entirely.

Anyway, don't forget to **leave your feedback** , either in **PMs** or **reviews**! See you soon!

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 **A STORY BROUGHT TO YOU BY Apollonir**

 **FORMAT INSPIRED BY** _ **The Great War**_ **FEATURING** _ **Indy Neidell**_


	2. Ep 2 - Prelude to War: Citadel Council

**Episode 2:** **Prelude to War – Citadel Council**

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Hello everyone, and welcome to the second episode of _First Contact: Colonial War_! The last episode we went a bit over the United Colonies of Kobol prior to the war. Today, we will briefly examine the Citadel Council.

Well, it's not really politically correct to say Citadel Council, but Turian Hierarchy, Salarian Union and Asari Republics. And the wider galaxy prior to contact with humanity.

The Citadel has enjoyed more than a millennium long peace since the Krogan Rebellions were brought to an end by the Turian Hierarchy. Unless you count in the multiple small proxy wars and conflicts between independent colonies, then the wider galaxy has been at peace. The latest major conflict was the Geth Uprising which saw the quarians expelled from their homeworld and colonies.

The whole galaxy was experiencing a long state of technological stagnation. No more relays were being opened, no more ambitious large scale projects undertaken… just the same old life – mining, stock exchange, policing known space, keeping the status quo, and the occasional conflict between powers within Terminus space. This did not sit all that well with the turian people, the most progressive of Citadel species, who saw the Citadel as a massive hindrance to the Hierarchy as years passed by, one that created a dangerous state of stagnation and subversion of the turian way of life. This topic of hot debate created a rift in turian society, with numerous separatist elements rising to prominence from 1300 CE to 2150 CE. The Hierarchy had to put down various armed rebellions throughout its colonies. Others who wanted to have nothing to do with the Hierarchy left their space and settled on independent colonies.

Hierarchy officials became aware of the stagnation they were forced into by the Citadel Charters. They sought to renew what they call the Turian Spirit in order to preserve the integrity of the Hierarchy against separatists and outside influence. Being the militarist state that it was, turian senior officers and the primarchs thought that war was the only solution for the foreseeable future. War would give the people a common enemy, to come together under the same banner and fight together. I believe you can spot a pattern here.

Now, the salarians, asari, elcor and volus put pressure on the turians through the Citadel Council to halt their antagonistic attitude toward possible enemies, mainly the batarians and Terminus powers. And by Terminus powers I mean Omega, warlords, mercenary organizations and independent colonies that have, in some way or another, offended the Hierarchy or the Citadel. Many ships under Citadel colors have been raided along the frontier and the turians were seriously considering punitive expeditions into the Terminus.

When the Hierarchy sent patrols deep into the Attican Traverse they encountered extensive protests from the Batarian Hegemony who was operating in the area via its proxy groups. When the Hierarchy started a big old crackdown on Hegemony loyal gangs in the Traverse, the batarians responded with raids from the Nemean Abyss.

Before we continue I have to point out the importance of the Nemean Abyss. The Nemean Abyss gained its name because of the extremely high pirate and cutthroat presence in the region, most of whom were in the batarian Hegemony's pockets. Ever since Hegemony politics makers recognized the threat posed by the Citadel after first contact, they worked hard to create as many proxy groups as they could. These proxy groups would be used later on to abduct aliens into slavery, to harass the Citadel when the Council or other races butted heads with the batarians, and to further extend and consolidate batarian influence all the way the other side of the galaxy. The Nemean Abyss and Kite's Nest, the stellar cluster where Khar'shan is, are roughly diametrically opposed in relation to the galactic core.

So you can see how much influence the batarians had in the galaxy, from Kite's Nest, through the Attican Traverse, up to the doors of Illium. And when the turians started their operations against Hegemony proxies in the Traverse, the batarians had their cutthroats launch terror attacks against the Asari Republics and Illium through the Nemean Abyss. The STG, as always, was unable to link the attacks to the Hegemony and the High Hegemon got away scot free. The Courts of Dekuuna suffered economic damage because of this terror campaign. The Citadel, once again, pressured the turians to cease and withdraw. Threatened with economic sanctions that could have crippled their economy, the Hierarchy gave up its crusade, still thirsty for action.

The last major opportunity for the turians to fight, besides the crackdowns on Hegemony loyal groups, was the Geth Uprising. Again, because of the containment of information by the quarians until it was too late, the war was already over, with the natives of Rannoch already fleeing on the nascent Migrant Fleet. The Primarch at the time, Primarch Callatis Hortenraka, was in favor of intervening in the war on the quarians' side, but the projected losses were so high that the idea was dropped entirely. It was a war that would be fought on the other side of the galaxy, with extremely overextended logistics and supply lines, against an enemy that was well dug in and that could engage in electronic and cybernetic warfare with great efficiency. This is unconfirmed, but word has it that the Asari Republics had an active interest in leaving the quarians to their fate after the long and strenuous Terminus Insurgencies that revolved around the inhabitants of the Perseus Veil. About the Terminus Insurgencies we can talk at a later date. **[1]**

So, we are entering the age marked by the advent of humanity with a Citadel constantly under internal and external political strife, with a Batarian Hegemony still not compliant as ever, and a Turian Hierarchy threatening to sink into another civil war, looking for a war with an outside faction that will consolidate the state's legitimacy and the unity of its people for the centuries to come, all in a similar fashion to the social consequences of the Unification Wars and Krogan Rebellions. A war they would get when they meet a Colonial survey squadron by Relay 314.

The war they sought was supposed to be small enough that they would not sustain many losses, and big enough to give the image of a common enemy, the threat to their people and the galaxy, and to earn enough prestige while putting down this threat for the greater good. When Patrol Squadron R75 of the Hierarchy 9th Fleet fired on the Colonial survey ships _Maria_ and _Shina_ , and the escorting gunstar _Defender_ and the patrolstar _Honore_ on June 3rd 2157, the Great War as it is known to us, or the Colonial War as it is known to the alien species, began.

Turian generals and admirals, intelligence officers and even the Primarch thought they had hit the jackpot. What, with a young and brash race opening mass relays left and right, in stark violation of Citadel Law? They thought they finally had the upper moral ground against some pushovers on frontier space, and they saw to administer punishment as it was right! But the United Colonies of Kobol were anything but pushovers.

We will close this episode here. Join us in the third episode where we will talk in more detail about the skirmish at Relay 314 and the road to Shanxi, where the Colonial Fleet and Colonial Marine Corps will butt heads with the Hierarchy Navy and Hierarchy Legionary Corps in an engagement that will shock the whole galaxy.

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 **[1]** You can see that I am importing some context and characters from my Mass Effect story, _Mass Effect: The Iron Heart of Man_ , and you can go check that out if you are interested to see this context earlier than I will post it here. There is a codex entry about the Terminus Insurgencies in _Chapter 18: Together Alone_. Can be read and understood 100% without knowing what that story is about.

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 **NOTE1:** Thank you for reading the second episode. I know I took my time to update, but time to write is sparse. I don't know when I will update the other two stories, but it will be sometime soon. I even overcame the writer's block for The Lost Civilization. Expect some interesting developments on that front.

 **Feedback** through **reviews** or **PMs** is always appreciated and listened to! Help me become a better writer! Thank you!

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 **A STORY BROUGHT TO YOU BY Apollonir**

 **FORMAT INSPIRED BY** _ **The Great War**_ **FEATURING** _ **Indy Neidell**_


	3. Ep 3 - First Contact: Relay 314

**NOTE1:** Saying this to get it out of the way – no Systems Alliance or other humans in this story!

 **NOTE2: (about updates)** I don't know when I will update the other two stories. I keep writing for this since I have plenty of ideas at the moment when attending faculty courses. I write some on my phone. TIHoM will be a 20k long chapter and it will take some time to finish it. TLC will be shorter, but will have a short plot twist and will actually start offering some revelations to Liara. I have job and bachelor degree work to do, so please **expect very slow updates until mid July**.

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 **Episode 3: First Contact – Relay 314**

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Ever since it happened we looked back at it as a moment of great importance to the human species, the moment that so many have been looking forward to, some with contempt, and some with glee. I'm talking, of course, about first contact with the turians at Relay 314. I'm Apollonir, welcome to _First Contact: Colonial War_!

We've briefly went over how the United Colonies of Kobol and the Citadel shaped up previously to first contact with each other. One was vigorously expanding and establishing new frontiers while the other was stagnating and facing the threat of implosion. And now they meet each other for the first time.

The colony of Shanxi was established in 2154 with the discovery of the planet. The Colonials have put effort in colonizing it to have a local workforce that will extract the raw resources in the Theta stellar cluster. The most important systems in the cluster is the Theta-Sigma system where Shanxi is located, Theta-Alpha, where the Theta – Arcturus Stream mass relay is located, and Theta-Lambda where the Shanxi Theta mass relay is located – the same relay that links to Relay 314.

In February 2157, two new survey ships had been dispatched to the sector to help map out the area. Once the Colonial Fleet and the Marine Corps were confident enough on the local defenses, they gave the two government ships the green light to open the Shanxi Theta mass relay, which they did. The survey ships _Maria_ and _Shina_ linked up with the gunstar _Defender_ and the patrolstar _Honore_ under the direct command of Colonel Armando Shaw at the Shanxi Anchorage on May 30th 1120 hours. They departed at 1500 hours in hyperspace FTL. According to logs, Colonel Shaw transmitted that they arrived at the Shanxi Theta relay on May 31st at 1310 hours.

The standard protocols applied and the survey ships first took telemetry scans and made simulations. All this time, they kept their distance at a constant 100,000 km from the relay. After two days of scans and analysis, they concluded that the relay is ready to be activated. Another communiqué from Colonel Shaw at 2139 hours on June 2nd said that _"we are going through."_

Now, from this point on I will be telling you what Colonial Fleet investigations turned out based on the Colonel's testimonies and the _Defender_ 's battle log prior to their loss during the Siege of Shanxi, solely based on documents that have survived to this day. This is where the fog of war starts to settle in.

According to ship's logs, the gunstar _Defender_ came out of the relay transit without problems. DRADIS did not detect anything unusual, so the survey ships were given the clear to proceed. _Maria_ and _Honore_ detached to survey the new star system while _Shina_ and _Defender_ stayed by the relay to make sure it activated correctly from this side.

At 0342 hours on June 3rd, _Honore_ 's long range sensors had picked up two unknown contacts at a distance of two million kilometers. They did not match up any known profiles, at least based on the readings they were getting at that range. They were obviously artificial based on the mass effect signature they were giving off and the high speed they were approaching _Honore_ and _Maria_. It was the vanguard of the Hierarchy Patrol Squadron R75, the turian frigates _Sevrum_ and _Kara_.

At 0411 hours, _Honore_ had a total of 20 ships on long range sensors, the entirety of the turian patrol squadron, among which were three light cruisers. The survey ship immediately stopped scanning the nearby gas giant and turned tail and left at the patrolstar's orders. The turians did not detect us until the _Maria_ powered up and sailed away from them at the best speed she could manage. The turians immediately increased speed and pursued with the vanguard while the rest stayed on course to the relay. _Honore_ continued to shadow the turian force while going at very low speed, kinetic barriers still not powered. When the small, 200 meters long patrolstar passed 500,000 km from the unknown force, it had confirmation that the designs were completely unknown and powered up to retreat and link up with _Defender_.

Colonel Shaw received tight beam messages from the two ships about the situation and, by 0458 hours, had the alien ships on his own long range sensors. He ordered the survey ship _Shina_ to hurry up and finalize the relay's activation. The relay was their only way out since it was a primary mass relay and they did not have enough tylium to make it back by standard FTL. The turians were close enough to the relay to notice it was being activated and they approached at attack speed. Colonel Shaw attempted to make contact multiple times on every frequency he had at its disposal, but no response came from the alien ships. When the turians passed the 200,000 km barrier, he ordered the survey ships to make an approach run to use the relay to leave, but it would not be.

 _Shina_ had finalized activating Relay 314 and was maneuvering. _Maria_ , on the other hand, was too far away and the turians were less than 100,000 km from her stern. At 0715, at a range of less than 60,000 km, turian frigates _Sevrum_ and _Kara_ fired on survey ship _Maria_ with fatal consequences. _Defender_ 's sensors picked up a massive explosion in _Maria_ 's stern section after the alien slugs hit the ship at 0716. The survey ship was lost with all hands.

Colonel Shaw, who had already ordered the ship to action stations, gave up diplomacy at this point and moved to defend the surviving civilian ship who was forced to maneuver out of the way of long range incoming enemy cruiser salvos. _Honore_ , the ship closest to the frigates who destroyed the _Maria_ , fired multiple salvoes with her three 155mm port batteries and scored multiple hits against _Sevrum_ in quick succession. The turian ship lost starboard barriers and took damage. Five minutes later, _Sevrum_ was drifting with her engines offline and total loss of power. _Kara_ engaged _Honore_ , but the patrolstar was quick on its feet to retreat. Parting shots had been fired by each other with little success.

The bulk of the turian force fell like thunder on the remaining Colonial ships. Three frigates have intercepted _Honore_ and destroyed her at 0735, but not before inflicting damage on the enemy. _Defender_ fired multiple shots with her four bow mounted spinal 508mm railgun batteries on the light cruiser _Bakhria_ and took the ship out of the fight. _Bakhria_ 's main cannon was disabled, her main LADAR sensors had been knocked down, she experienced malfunctions with her radio and tight beam systems, and had several decks exposed to the void. _Defender_ , in turn, was focus fired and Colonel Shaw ordered the retreat.

Survey ship _Shina_ was able to retreat through the relay, but not without taking a shot from the _Bakhria_. Two 9 kilogram mass accelerator slugs overpenetrated her hull. One had destroyed the main oxygen recyclers and the other pierced through the machinery room. With the ship unable to continue under her own, the crew made backups of the databanks before wiping the computers clean of any data and scuttling the ship with conventional warheads and an overload of the primary reactors. The gunstar _Defender_ was able to retreat through the relay at 0812. Colonel Shaw stopped to pick up the stranded crew of _Shina_ before departing for Shanxi to report. The turians did not pursue through the relay. _Defender_ herself had lost two 155mm batteries, her engine number two and three were leaking radiation, she was venting atmosphere through the upper decks and had lost her starboard AAA systems.

Turian losses were significant as well: one light cruiser was incapable of fighting due to damage, one frigate destroyed, and four frigates damaged but still combat capable. We don't know why the turian commander, a person whose name seems to have either been lost to time or censored by the Hierarchy, did not pursue or conduct reconnaissance operations as soon as possible. Declassified documents tell that the patrol squadron took defensive positions before evacuating all the wounded or dead crewmembers to the combat incapable _Bakhria_ and seeing the ship off to the colony of Magna – the nearest turian colony to Relay 314.

On June 5th, the Turian Hierarchy had learned about what transpired at Relay 314. An emergency summit was convened by Primarch Tiberius Fedorian at Palaven Command, the Citadel and the wider galaxy still unaware. After long deliberations where they analyzed all the combat data, late evening of June 6th, Palaven Command decided that they had the upper hand and decided to engage the United Colonies of Kobol in open warfare under the casus belli of breaking galactic laws. The turians were now mustering a military force to subdue this new race before initiating dialogue.

The turian strategy was to travel through Relay 314, wipe out any spaceborne naval force the Colonies had in the sector, occupy a few planets, and then have the unknown aliens surrender. All this behind the galaxy's backs. News of the skirmish and the punitive strike would be published in Hierarchy mass media after the military expedition was scheduled to arrive at 314. Mind you, the news would have been fabricated by Palaven Command before being released to the press. Councilor Sparatus would not find out about this until it was too late, Primarch Fedorian would see to it. They assumed the newly encountered aliens would not be that big of a challenge and that they had the upper hand over them. What a grave assumption that would turn out to be!

Meanwhile, back in the Colonies, news barely reached Shanxi when _Defender_ jumped in system and broadcasted everything to Rear Admiral Leon Ali Arford's flagship, the Valkyrie-class light battlestar _Freyja_ , on June 5th. The ship then proceeded to dock with the Shanxi Anchorage where the wounded crewmembers and the civilian crew of the _Shina_ were transferred to the station. Under Rear Admiral Arford's orders, _Defender_ underwent emergency repairs. Colonel Shaw was debriefed by Arford in the evening and the news he broke to the Colonial Fleet shocked the present staff.

Now, a few words about Arford. The man of Tauron origin was assigned as the commanding officer of Battlestar Group 112 back in 2153 and he was given command of the _Freyja_ the same year. BSG-112, part of the Fifth Fleet, was assigned to the Theta stellar cluster prior to colonization efforts in the system. The force was composed of the battlestar _Freyja_ , six cruisers, five gunstars, and two dozen patrolstars. With this naval force at his disposal, Arford will have to defend the Theta cluster and Shanxi in the coming month.

The defensive strategy of the Colonial Fleet in 2157 was a very flexible one. The bulk of the Colonial Fleet was stationed in five locations: the First Fleet – the largest – was stationed in the Cyrannus System, the Third Fleet in the Panora stellar cluster, the Second Fleet at Reach, the Fourth Fleet in the Skyllian Verge, and the Fifth Fleet in the Arcturus Stream. The principle was to have a somewhat light defense force in the colonized systems while the majority of the naval forces were concentrated at key points from where they could rapidly deploy to combat zones with the use of the mass relays or FTL. There were only 6 battlestar groups stationed in the Arcturus Stream when first contact was made with the turians, Fleet Admiral Nagala having the other 8 engaged in anti-Cylon war games with the Fourth Fleet in the Verge. You could say that the Fleet risked having a good number of ships wiped out in the eventuality of a surprise attack on a major naval base and you'd be right, but it was the most efficient strategy to cover all of Colonial space without stretching too thin.

Getting back to the matter at hand, Rear Admiral Arford and his staff was shocked to hear that first contact was made with an alien race, an aggressive one at that. Humanity believed contact with another species to be inevitable as they expanded and had contingencies in place to deal with various scenarios. But training for something and actually experiencing it were two totally different things.

Arford forwarded all data from Colonel Shaw and the ship's records to Fifth Fleet at Arcturus on June 6th in early morning.

One thing I would like to point out here is that contact between Shanxi, and the whole of Theta cluster, and Arcturus was maintained through a series of communication buoys. It would take time for information to travel between systems, especially when the quadrant you are communicating with is not a developed one and in its early colonization efforts, like Shanxi was. Interstellar communications were still lacking when the war broke out, but it would evolve by leaps before the end of it.

Admiral Helena Cain, commanding officer of Fifth Fleet at the time, was away with the _Pegasus_ and the other 7 battlestar groups, busy in the Verge. In her stead, it was Vice Admiral Kastanie Drescher in command from her flagship, the battlestar _Atlantis_. Drescher reviewed the data herself before sending it up the chain of command. She put her entire fleet under alert as soon as she did so, but did not disclose the exact reason to avoid panicking the crews or having them act out of line.

By the morning of June 8th, the news made it to President Richard Adar's desk. He immediately asked his defense advisors what to do and most of them suggested to raise the readiness level of the military. He'd convene a meeting the same day with the Quorum, but the politicians dismissed the claims and demanded clarifications from the naval officers. They were unwilling to move the military, and the military did not have a wide berth to act independently in times of peace. While Fleet Admiral Nagala protested the decision on the 9th, Arford was busy reviewing and creating plans to counter a possible alien incursion based solely on data retrieved by the _Defender_. It was at this moment that the Colonies lost the initiative by being paralyzed by political indecisions and personal political ambitions of the representatives in the Quorum. There were a few representatives who advocated for immediate action and to inform the population, like Caprica, Tauron, Gemenon and Sagittaron. And Adar chose silence until they had a better picture of the situation.

And we end today's episode on this fateful choice of the Colonial leadership choosing to abstain from action or releasing information to the public! You would think that with an alien attack as brazen as this the politicians would act in the interests of their own people. While there were ulterior motives involved, the political class thought that they could wait for details to arrive before acting. A few even outright dismissed the reports as a farce. Some thought they need to think it through. Others hoped to send diplomats to make peaceful contact, blaming the military for putting another spin on the reports and for being somehow just as guilty as the aliens. All of this while the Hierarchy's 9th Fleet, reinforced with one more dreadnought and a dozen cruisers, and an initial ground force of 40,000 turians had just been dispatched to Relay 314.

Things will start to go horribly, horribly wrong at Shanxi very soon. And all of it because ambitious and megalomaniacs on either side thought they could get their way with everything. Join us the next episode as we talk about Arford's valiant defense and the beginning of the Siege of Shanxi! See you next time!

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 **A STORY BROUGHT TO YOU BY Apollonir**

 **FORMAT INSPIRED BY** _ **The Great War**_ **FEATURING** _ **Indy Neidell**_


	4. Ep 4 - First Contact: Road to Shanxi

**NOTE1:** As some of you have said, the lack of a prefix to ship names can make it harder to track to which side each vessel belongs. So, starting with this chapter, I will add prefixes as follows: CF for Colonial Fleet, THW for Turian Hierarchy Warship, ARS for Asari Republics Ship, etcetera. I will explain within the adequate context when we get to more factions.

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 **Episode 4: First Contact – The Road to Shanxi**

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First blood has been drawn between the Colonies and the Hierarchy at Relay 314 on June 3rd and a tragic chain of events that will destroy billions of lives was set in motion with that exchange of ordnance between the two factions. The Hierarchy was sending a military expedition to secure the human side of the Shanxi Theta – Relay 314 corridor while the Colonial political leadership was paralyzed on what to do, waiting for further details about the situation. Now we see what happens when you have to fight an enemy you know nothing about with your hands tied to your back. In this episode, we will follow Rear Admiral Arford's brilliant defense of Shanxi and the beginning of Major General Williams' titanic struggle to keep the colony in human hands. I'm Apollonir, and this is the fourth episode of _First Contact: Colonial War_!

Fleet Command was pressuring President Adar to allow the Navy and the Marine Corps to act from Picon Fleet Headquarters. But Adar was following the majority of the Quorum. The House of Planets – the lower house of the Quorum – was still unaware of first contact having occurred. After a full day of unsuccessful deliberations between Nagala and Adar, Nagala summoned a meeting on June 10th late evening. Present were flag officers of the Navy that were at Fleet Headquarters in the Cyrannus System, General Redwald Barnard of the Colonial Marine Corps, and Marshal Acton Haig – the highest ranking officer of the Colonial Army. The meeting lasted five hours. The General and Marshal were shocked to find out that the Colonial Fleet had engaged alien warships in battle. Furthermore, they were dumbfounded that Adar did not order a military mobilization.

They had agreed to act within the legal bounds in times of peace. All branches of the military will partially mobilize for large scale war games all across Colonial space starting June 12th. If somebody asked questions, they would say that they were testing the response time if a Cylon attack was to happen. Adar and the Quorum of Twelve were frustrated by this, knowing well what they were aiming for, but they could not do anything in that regard.

Meanwhile, Admiral Helena Cain learns about first contact on June 11th, still engaged in war games. She requested permission from Nagala to stop the training and reinforce Arcturus with the 8 battlestar groups that she had with her in the Verge. She received the approval of her superior on June 13th, but the whole fleet will have to make a stop at the colony of Elysium to replenish their fuel stocks. By June 16th, Cain was on her way to Arcturus.

Looking a bit over the other side of the fence, the turians were on their merry way to Relay 314. On June 12th, the reinforced 9th Fleet was starting to arrive at Relay 314 and was preparing to move through. First ships in the system were the vanguard of the fleet, composed of 6 heavy cruisers and 20 frigates. There they linked up with the operational ships of Patrol Squadron R75 which rejoined the fleet. But their timing was ill fated, for Arford had a cunning plan in store for them.

Rear Admiral Arford had been very busy the past days. He was preparing the _CF Freyja_ and the whole of Battlestar Group 112 for a possible battle with the aliens, should they choose to enter the Theta cluster via the Shanxi Theta mass relay. Arford was furious when he found out that the Quorum and Adar were not taking action. According to his XO, he had a fit of rage when he received the order to further every detail of the incident to Caprica and keep the Quorum up to date. He would send a report, the only difference between it and the first report sent being that Arford had written at the beginning of the report _"This is all the details."_

Major General Williams had put the 20,000 strong 212th Frontier Marine Division under full alert when Arford broke the news to him about the fate of the survey squadron at Relay 314. He informed the governor of Shanxi about the situation and requested that the few available bunkers be opened for the civilian population to take shelter in. The population of Shanxi in June 2157 was nearing 600,000 people. The bunkers only had a capacity of 100,000. They were self sufficient for one month only. Being very far away from Cylon space and the Red Line, Shanxi's population was deemed safe from Cylon attack, thus the low capacity of the bunkers compared to the total population of the colony.

The 212th was an infantry division and was poorly equipped to fight the turians. The soldiers did not have neither the newest body armor, nor the most modern rifles in its inventory. They were still geared with light Kevlar, metal and ceramics armor. The main weapon was the AK-12 assault rifle, a weapon designed and introduced by Aerilon Kinetic Solutions in 2112 for the Colonial Army and Marine Corps as an all-weather, all-terrain weapon to fight the Cylon centurions. While not as advanced as the M7 Lancer – the main rifle of the military in 2157 – the AK-12 was still a powerful rifle. And it showed. The 7.62x51mm armor piercing explosive bullets it fired were good enough to kill turian soldiers in full body armor. Of course, the division also had armored personnel carriers, trucks, self propelled anti aircraft guns and light self propelled artillery to support the infantrymen. But, as the Colonial Armed Forces would find out, losing orbital supremacy can make life very, very hard for such units.

While Williams was preparing the colony, Arford was preparing to strike at the enemy. Going against orders to refrain from any violent action unless fired upon, he had the battlestar _CF Freyja_ and half of his forces travel to the Shanxi Theta relay. Arford sent two scout probes through the relay. The probes came out of the relay and detected the R75 squadron and the vanguard of 9th Fleet. We're still not sure why he chose to attack, but I would guess that once he discovered alien warships massing at his doorstep he assumed the worst and went ahead with the preemptive strike.

Based on documents disclosed by both the Colonial Fleet and the Turian Hierarchy, we have recreated Arford's preemptive strike on the ships that attacked the four ship survey squadron days earlier. The probes transmitted back through the relay what they detected – the positions and range to every turian ship in proximity of the relay. Arford then used his own ship to jump through the relay and launched _Freyja_ 's full nuclear arsenal against the ships present. The turians were caught by surprise, not expecting another incursion after what they considered was a major psychological victory over the interlopers. As soon as Arford fired his nukes, he performed an FTL jump outside of the system. His plan was to use the chaos and the effect of multiple EMPs to jump back in system 15 minutes later and return to Theta through Relay 314. This would give him a window of opportunity to retreat without exposing the ship to concentrated fire. A tactic that worked brilliantly in his favor!

In less than 10 minutes, just past midnight on June 13th, the Hierarchy's 9th Fleet had lost 14 ships, of which 2 heavy and 4 light cruisers, to nuclear ordnance. 95% of the crews have died from the nuclear detonations or their immediate aftermaths. Though the number of ships destroyed were small compared to the strength of the 9th Fleet, it was 14 ships fewer he would have to worry about. As he maneuvered to align with the relay after jumping back into the system, Arford had his flagship's 150cm turreted cannons and secondary batteries unload shells into the radiated wrecks. He retreated without suffering a single casualty. He waited for the enemy to chase him through and had his ships arranged to shoot them into the rear and from the flanks, but no turian ship came through. He'd leave the last probe capable of FTL communication at the Shanxi Theta relay to warn him if the turians gave chase later on.

This was just the first of a long nuclear streak. One that will take the lives of billions of alien lives once the war really starts going. The overall commander of the turian expeditionary force, General Desolas Arterius, arrived some twelve hours later with the bulk of the 9th Fleet and the troop transport ships. The naval commander at the head of the fleet was Admiral Kaevus Eudorian, an officer that, unlike Desolas, did not see real action in any separatist uprising or against significant opposition. In fact, the most action he has seen in his life was against two pirate frigates that were raiding along the Hierarchy – Traverse border. If Palaven Command was willing to wait and not rush the operation due to fear of discovery by the Council or the public, they would have most definitely assigned another fleet and commander with more experience. As it was, 9th Fleet was the only one in the AO.

Desolas and Eudorian were most surprised to stumble across the nuked ships. The Hierarchy had theorized that the newly encountered race might resort to weapons of mass destruction, but not that soon. This piece of news was a double edge sword for both sides. For the Colonies… on one hand it gave them a major advantage over the Council. On the downside, it would be one of the catalysts that will drag the Asari and Salarians into the war. For the Turians it meant that they would severely underestimate the strength of the Colonial Fleet. They reasoned that if the savages used nukes so soon they were lacking big time in the required resources to engage in any significant interstellar war. Whatever the aliens had on the other side of Relay 314 must be the bulk of their military.

By the evening of June 13th, the Turian 9th Fleet was ready to travel through Relay 314. They sent scouting probes ahead and were surprised to see that the new race was not here, waiting to shoot them in the rear as they came out of transit. They went through the relay the next day. The Colonial probe with FTL communication capabilities left behind by Arford detected the increasingly larger Turian fleet. All recorded data was received by Shanxi midday of June 14th, at 1310 hours. The last report sent by the probe before going dark painted a rather dark picture – there were at least 270 alien warships in the Theta cluster. Arford warned the nearby mining outposts to go silent until further notice and only broadcast for help if discovered by the aliens. Williams was busy fortifying the colony's two primary settlements and deploying his forces accordingly.

The combat record of the 9th Fleet had the following to say about the fleet's notable activities in the time period between their arrival in Theta and the attack on Shanxi. General Desolas and the troop transports stayed behind with an escort of 20 warships. Admiral Eudorian dispatched 20 frigates to scout the nearby solar systems for the Colonial planets. The Turian frigates _THW Oktana_ and _THW Kara_ discovered the Xul-Nine mining outpost in the Theta-Gamma system and engaged the Colonial cruiser _CF Hammerhand_ which was evacuating the miners. Xul-Nine was the closest to Theta-Lambda, the system where the alien fleet set camp, and Arford and the governor of Shanxi had them evacuate. _CF Hammerhand_ suffered minor damage before crippling the _THW Kara_ and using electronic warfare to mask its FTL jump to Shanxi.

Arford was notified of the skirmish and prepared an ambush for the Turians. He took the _CF Freyja_ to Theta-Gamma with two gunstars and two cruisers, among which was the _CF Hammerhand_. He hid his forces in the planetoid's shadow while _Hammerhand_ was faking evacuating more miners. Arford seemed confident that the aliens would be back to investigate and study the outpost. What military leader wouldn't want to learn about his enemy? And, as forecasted, Eudorian sent a stronger force to investigate. And so it came that on the night of June 16th to 17th, Arford sprung his trap on the 9th Fleet's Second Cruiser Squadron. The report sent by Eudorian to Palaven Command indicates that the Turian officer did not think the Colonials would be there, waiting for him, thus the relatively light force he dispatched. Most importantly, he did not expect battlestar _CF Freyja_ to be there. When the _CF Hammerhand_ lured the cruiser squadron on the other side of the planetoid, they came face to face with a Valkyrie-class battlestar, two gunstars and one more cruiser.

Arford unleashed the _Freyja_ 's 200cm bow facing spinal batteries and utterly destroyed a cruiser in the opening salvo while her escorts maneuvered on the squadron's flank and continuously unloading death in the form of shells. At the cost of just one gunstar, Arford destroyed 10 more ships and inflicted major damage on 5 more before jumping away. That engagement was dubbed the Battle of Xul-Nine. Even today, if you travel there, you can see the crashed wrecks of the destroyed cruisers _THW Havencaw_ and _THW Polodora_ near the planetoid's equator.

Another major loss for Eudorian, that was sure. But his luck will quickly change, for a pair of scout frigates had found Shanxi on the 17th. The ships left behind by Arford failed to intercept the frigates in time and they got away. Eudorian's 9th Fleet was going to make its move on Shanxi, Arford was barely finding out that the colony's location has been compromised while he was away, and the Colonial political leadership was still debating how to proceed!

We end this episode here. You'd think that with Arford's constant updates President Adar and the Quorum of Twelve would finally give the Colonial Fleet the liberty to act and defend Shanxi. But Adar and his fellow politicians did not know what to do and they still refused to listen to Fleet Admiral Nagala's advice. Vice Admiral Kastanie Drescher was itching to deploy her forces to Shanxi, but her hands were tied by the law. Just imagine it, how it must be to receive regular updates from Shanxi, to know that your people and subordinates there are outmatched, for you to have the strength to help them… but to be tied down because the Quorum refuses to get their collective heads out of their asses. It must be extremely frustrating and heart wrenching.

And, before we say goodbye, allow me to read to you the headline of the Citadel News Network for the morning of June 16th: _"Hostile aliens use nuclear weapons to destroy Turian warships on patrol! The Hierarchy prepares to contain the new threat!"_ Primarch Fedorian made sure to give the story the spin he and Palaven Command wanted. Perhaps he fooled many, but some saw the news for what it might actually mean: Fedorian was going conquering!

Come back next time to see the Siege of Shanxi and what the galaxy thinks about this turn of events from the mundane day-to-day life. And, more importantly, find out what made the Quorum come to a decision on the recent events!

Quick trivia: it was on June 17th that Commander William "Husker" Adama was assigned to the battlestar _Galactica_ in preparation for his and the ship's retirement. He will very soon find out that he'll have to postpone his retirement indefinitely.

Thank you all! See you again in Episode 5: Siege of Shanxi – Fire in the Sky, Blood on the Ground.

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 **NOTE2:** I will now focus on TIHoM and TLC. No updates for FC:CW until I update these two. God knows I owe my readers a lot for those two stories. Apologies for the inconvenience! See you around!

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 **A STORY BROUGHT TO YOU BY Apollonir**

 **FORMAT INSPIRED BY** _ **The Great War**_ **FEATURING** _ **Indy Neidell**_


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